Building the Restorative City Dr Marian Liebmann 9 th International Conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice 22-24 June 2016 Leiden, The Netherlands
Values of Restorative Justice (Zehr) Does the model address harms, needs and causes? Is it adequately victim-oriented? Are offenders encouraged to take responsibility? Are all relevant stakeholders involved? Is there an opportunity for dialogue and participatory decision-making? Is the model respectful to all parties?
Social Discipline Window (Wachtel)
Restorative Practices A family of practices: Restorative conferencing Family Group Conferencing Victim-offender mediation Mediation for conflicts Restorative circles Sentencing circles Victim-offender groups Reparation
What is a Restorative City? A Restorative City is a city in which organisations and institutions are all trying to resolve conflict in a restorative rather than a punitive way, by using mediation and other restorative practices.
Dan van Ness RJ City design Assumed cities take responsibility for all crimes within their limits Local and national resources diverted to cities Focus groups in US, Canada, England & Wales, New Zealand Produced 70-page model in 2005
Hull first UK Restorative City 2002-5 Primary school transformed 2005 Hull Centre for Restorative Practices 2005-2012 Training for schools, youth centres, children s homes, foster carers, family centres, hostels, hospitals, youth offending teams, police, probation, prisons, etc.
Leeds Transforming Children s Services History of victim-offender mediation in probation and restorative work in youth offending teams and prisons 2010 Director of Children s Services came from Hull Emphasis on working with parents, using Social Discipline Window Use of circle decision-making in schools, Social Services, staff meetings 2015 Inspection: Commitment to Restorative Practices is having a transformational impact on culture and professional practice 2015: 4.8 million grant to transform children s social care system, using restorative, family-centred model
Other Cities & Counties Other restorative cities or counties in process: Bristol County Durham Norfolk Wokingham Stockport Swansea Cardiff (WRAP Wales Resorative Approaches Partnership) There may be others.
Bristol 2007 City Council conference: Bristol as a Restorative City 2010 Local group of RJ practitioners formed 2010-2012 Workshops held 2012 City Council set up Restorative Bristol Board & held big conference 2013 Project officer appointed: development of standards, membership, new projects, web site Working together to resolve and repair harm
Bristol Restorative Services Bristol Mediation Bristol Homeless Mediation Bristol Police RJ Probation RJ Bristol Reparation Service Nursery, Primary & Secondary Schools Mediation at Work Salaam Shalom (work in schools) Bristol Youth Offending Team Neighbourhood Justice Team Youth Hate Crime RJ Project Bristol Prison The Forgiveness Project Restorative Thinking Parenting Programme Secure Unit for Young People Olas Arts
Recent & Current Projects Restorative Intergenerational Service Restorative work with young perpetrators and victims of sexual harm Hostels RJ project Restorative Road Sharing project Training package for City Council workers
Two routes Expanding training good if starting from scratch Bringing projects together good if some RJ projects already exist
What works in getting there? Some of Hull s suggestions: Empower key decision makers to make collaborative decisions towards restorative change Allocate (maybe reallocate) resources Don t give up - embedding culture change takes time Be inclusive - engage individuals at all levels Measure impact
Conclusion Our goal will be reached when restorative approaches become the norm and simply the way we do things round here. Restorative Bristol: www.restorativebristol.co.uk
Contact Details Dr Marian Liebmann 52 St Albans Road Bristol BS6 7SH UK Tel: +44 (0) 117 942 3712 Mobile: +44 (0) 7776 150931 E-mail: marian@liebmann.org.uk